Over and over again, research has shown that one of the best ways to help you want to stick to your workout plan or new diet is involving other people in your plans. Social media fitness apps may be one of the best ways to do this, but you need to find the app that works best for you!

Some of the most oft-repeated pieces of advice include “tell everyone you’re watching what you eat!“, “join a fitness class!“, or “make plans with a friend to go for a run in the mornings!” While there certainly isn’t anything wrong with these ideas, they aren’t always compatible with modern lifestyles – what if your only other friend who runs at the same speed as you lives in a different time zone? Or what if you work from home and don’t have co-workers to keep you away from the candy bowl?

Summarizing all of the fitness apps available would be nearly impossible, but it’s easy to break the available apps down into three basic categories:

Apps that connect you to your off-line friends and family

Apps that connect to your existing social media accounts

Apps that connect you to strangers with similar goals

While there may be some overlap between these categories, each app does tend to focus on one of these aspects, with its other functionalities take a back seat. As with most things that influence your lifestyle, there isn’t going to be a perfect healthy living app, or even style of healthy living app, that will work for absolutely everyone.

Here we’ve listed out some of the pros and cons of each category as well as an app that exemplifies that category. Hopefully this list will enable you to find the app that will most easily integrate into your individual lifestyle, and help you to achieve the goals that you have set for yourself.

1. Apps that Connect You with Friends and Family

There is no replacing the relationships that you have with your friends and family. For this reason, these individuals can be some of your best supports throughout any significant lifestyle changes that you make. Social media apps that focus on using these relationships to improve success can be some of the most powerful in changing your habits, and can also be a lot of fun!

However, these apps can also be intimidating to use if you are not surrounded by supportive relationships, or if those around you are uninterested in moving towards a healthy lifestyle.

Fitbit is one of the most widely used app that connects wirelessly to an electronic pedometer (now available in multiple styles with a wide range of functions!) and compares your stats (including steps taken, stairs climbed, calories eaten, and/or weight lost) to those of your Fitbit friends.

Fitbit is a great way to improve your fitness while competing against friends and family – some large companies have even begun implementing the use of Fitbit as a health initiative for their staff! You can wait for the weekly leaderboard to come out every Sunday night to see who has become champion, or engage your friends and family in a set challenge like the “Workweek Hustle” for additional motivation.

Apps that are intended to connect you with people in your “real” life may be the best choice for you if you enjoy competing against people you know, want a way to keep your supportive friends and family in the loop about your training through a platform dedicated to fitness, or find that your best motivation comes from engaging people close to you in your lifestyle changes.

2. Apps that Connect to Your Existing Social Media Accounts

While apps dedicated to fitness and healthy living are able to provide a number of great features, if no one else you know is using them they can fall short of their original purpose. If you want to stay engaged with your real-life friends, but they are not interested in using healthy living apps themselves, then choosing to connect an app with your existing social media accounts is a great way to still involve them in your goal setting, progress, and successes.

Now, there is a caveat to this – people posting their fitness activities on general social media networks can be a pet peeve for a number of users. Consider making a Facebook friends list specific for those that you want to be involved in your fitness activities, and sharing your updates only to them.

Nike+ is one of the most ubiquitous apps for fitness, especially since it began partnering with Apple’s technology. There are many features of Nike+Track, Motivate, and Compete With Nike+ RunningTrack, Motivate, and Compete With Nike+ RunningWhether you're just taking up distance running for the first time, or you've lost track of how many marathons you have behind you, Nike+ Running is a useful tool.Read More that are helpful for your training. It tracks stats from your runs, allows you to complete challenges, and also has a coaching feature that leads you through a targeted program for specific race distances and running levels.

The social aspect of the Nike+ app is integral to its design. It allows you to share the completion of your runs through Facebook, Twitter or Path. An in-app camera allows you to add a photo to your share without leaving the app. As well, you can choose to “Get Cheers” from your Facebook and Path friends – a cheering noise will sound over your music in real time as your friends like your post.

Apps that are intended to connect you to your friends through an existing social media network are a great way to have all of the benefits of the support you want from your close social circle without the potential effort involved with making them download (and use!) an app they may not be interested in using for themselves.

3. Apps That Connect You to a Community of Strangers

As wonderful as it can be to have support from your existing friends and family, there are a lot of situations in which being able to work out with a community of individuals that you do not know is a better fit. These apps are great for people who are exercising at a level different than those around them – you may want to have more technical discussions about weight training, or have someone else to talk to who is also starting to exercise with zero experience.

These apps do take more individual dedication than those that involve your off-line friends. After all, the motivation of an online community is only effective if you choose to stay engaged. Similarly, the level of interaction and investment that you put into an online community generally dictates the benefits you will receive from using the app.

Apps such as PumpUp are designed specifically for those who love talking about their workouts on social media and who also enjoy being inspired by the accomplishments of others.

The interface of PumpUp looks as it resembles Instagram in both its appearance and functionality, but it features three different feeds. A “New” feed allows you to view the newest photos posted, a “Popular” feed lets you see the posts that have been interacted with most recently, and a “Following” feed allows you to view photos only from those users that you choose. You can track your exercise with the app, and post photos with descriptions to share with your followers.

Apps that are intended to create a community amongst like-minded people who may never meet otherwise are a fantastic resource for those looking to make changes in their lifestyles. They are a great choice if you love using social media to connect, and are interested in sharing your fitness activities with others who will understand your progress.

I tried just about every app and couldn't find one that simply logs workouts, and could connect to friends. I did finally find a website that looks and acts like an app on my phone, but they don't seem to have an app. Maybe that is a good thing because it doesn't take any space, but does anyone know of an app that is similar to http://liftingwithfriends.com where you can log workouts and connect to your friends? I don't want a bunch of videos, or any other garbage. Just a simple way to log my workouts and see my friends workouts.

Curtis
I saw a website but looks like they are implementing new features as the last time I used it was the beta test.
It's called globofit.com I contacted them and have been told they are about to relaunch it and are working on iOS and Android app
Perfect to connect to like minded people, create and store workouts
Looks like the real deal and the promise for the fitness industry in 2017

There's also TheFitlyApp! You can download it on IOS or Android once they launch in your city to find workout partners! It's a great way to network and meet new friends while keeping me motivated to go to the gym!

Belen, I'm so sorry I just saw this now - I love it! That's such a great idea - it's so frustrating to try and get everyone in a family or friend group to use the same tracker and this app totally solves that problem!

I think the only thing that all of these apps are missing is peer-to-peer communication. When it comes to fitness for me personally, I always work better when I'm physically with someone who shares the same goals as I do. I just started using this app called fitssi, and I feel so much better not having to check my phone midway through my workouts to see how many steps i've taken.

Thanks so much for the suggestion! I'll be sure to check into that one - just from looking at its description, I love that it combines your geographic location with detailed profiles... what a great way to connect with similarly minded people :)

Great ones, Jessica! Myfitnesspal overlapped in so many of the categories I was looking at that I decided to leave it out – but it really is an app that does it all when it comes to fitness and healthy living!

Briallyn is an occupational therapist working with clients to integrate technology into their everyday lives to assist with physical and psychological conditions. After work? She's probably procrastinating on social media or troubleshooting her family's computer problems.